Methods of analysing a cellular network

Abstract

A method of managing a load within a cellular network. The method includes obtaining network usage records from the cellular network; extracting cell information from the network usage records; establishing terminal carrier routes for cellular terminals that have changed location as determined from the extracted cell information; deriving terminal carrier profile attributes for the cellular terminals that have changed location, based on the established terminal carrier routes; determining a load on a resource of the cellular network, based on the established terminal carrier routes and the derived terminal carrier profile attributes; and controlling resources of the cellular network in response to the determined load, so as to manage the load within the cellular network. By combining established terminal carrier routes with derived terminal carrier profile attributes, it is possible to anticipate areas where cellular terminal carriers are likely to be concentrated at specific times during the day and allocate resources accordingly.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority to United Kingdom Application Number 1121955.7, filed on Dec. 21, 2011, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to methods of extracting and analysing data from cellular networks, and more particularly, using the extracted information, to establishing a likelihood of one or more cellular terminal carriers travelling to a predetermined location, and managing a load within the cellular network.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Traffic planners often want to know the impact of events on city infrastructure, event managers often want to target their marketing to maximise the return on investment of their marketing budget, and individuals often want to know what events they would enjoy attending. Data that could be used to predict who will go to a certain place at a certain time is only available for a small sub-set of people, e.g. captu...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent text describes a method for predicting which cellular terminal carriers are likely to be present in a specific area at a given time, based on their routes and profile attributes. This allows for a more accurate prediction of the load on the network, and helps balance resources accordingly. The method takes into account various factors that may influence the likelihood of attendance, such as the distance of the event or carrier from home. The network usage records can be real-time, near real-time, or stored data. By combining terminal carrier routes with profile attributes, a more precise map of likely attendance can be obtained, and the network can be better balanced for optimal performance.

Problems solved by technology

However, the sole use of home location as a parameter for determining attendance of an event results in poor accuracy of the prediction measurement.

Home location is furthermore an inferior parameter for use in estimating the attendance of an event, as it only characterises the relative distance between the customer and the event.

Additionally, large volumes of mobile phone subscribers located within a certain area and at a certain time of day often place heavy loads on the local telecommunications infrastructure.

For instance, a lack of cellular base stations in the general vicinity of an event may limit the capability of the subscribers to initiate mobile events, such as placing calls or browsing the internet.

Moreover, the power being delivered to cellular base stations in the vicinity of an event attended by many mobile phone subscribers may be insufficient to cater for all of the subscribers, and bandwidth may as a result be severely limited.

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